Cold Seafood Salad

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Cold Seafood Salad

Growing up, seafood salad was a staple dish for the holidays. We would eat it with antipasto on Christmas Eve, enjoying the “Feast of the Seven Fishes” … and then some! This simple fish dish can be modified to your liking and made with any variation of fish you have access to.

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Ingredients:

  • 12-14 medium sized shrimp 
  • 14-16 oz calamari – tentacles and rings
  • 6 medium scallops
  • 2-3 ribs of celery, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
  • 1/2 medium to large red onion or 1 small red onion, finely diced
  • 2 lemons, juice and zest 
  • 1/4 cup cup extra virgin olive oil 
  • 1 bunch flat leaf parsley 
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper pepper, or to taste
  • Optional inclusions:
    • olives
    • roasted red peppers
    • capers
    • cherry tomatoes

Instructions:

  1. Fill an 8-10 cup pot 3/4 of the way full of filtered water, similar to how you would if you were making pasta. 
  2. Put on medium to high heat and bring to a simmer/ low boil. 
  3. While the water comes up to temperature, prep your fish.
    • This step may vary, depending on what fish you are using. 
    • Calamari: My calamari came in a package with two types of pieces; the body and the tentacles. For the body, I sliced them into 1/2 inch rings. 
    • Add the calamari rings and tentacles into a large bowl. 
    • Shrimp: I used frozen and thawed shrimp. Peel and devein your shrimp. Add it to a separate bowl that your calamari. They have different cooking times so you will need to cook them separately.
    • Scallops: My scallops were ready to be cooked straight from the store. I patted them with a paper towel to remove excess water.
  4. Prep a separate bowl with an ice bath. Fill the bowl about half way with ice and water. The bowl should still have enough space to add calamari and shrimp once done cooking without overflowing.
  5. Once the water in the pot comes up to a simmer/ low boil, carefully add about half of the calamari. Cook the calamari for a few minutes until opaque and the tentacles start to curl. 
  6. Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove the calamari and place directly into the ice bath. 
  7. Repeat this step with the remaining calamari. 
  8. Keep the water simming/ boiling. 
  9. Carefully add the shrimp to the pot with hot water. 
  10. Cook the shrimp until they are white and opaque and all of the gray color has turned pinkish. 
  11. While the shrimp cooks, add more ice to your ice bath, as needed. 
  12. Once the shrimp are cooked, use your slotted spoon to remove the shrimp from the pot and place in the ice bath with the calamari. 
  13. Heat a non-stick skillet or sauté pan to low-medium heat.
    1. If you do not have a non-stick option, use a seasoned cast iron skillet or pan that has been coated with avocado oil. 
  14. Add your scallops and lightly sear on each side. 
  15. Cook your scallops until the entire scallop through to the center is white and opaque, about 2-3 minute per side, longer as needed. If you are not experienced with scallops, you may need to cut one in half to check – it’s all good! We will need to cut them anyway for the salad. 
  16. While the scallops cook, drain and discard the ice bath water from the calamari and shrimp. 
  17. Once cooked, remove scallops from the pan and place on a clean dish or in the bowl with the other fish. 
  18. Put the fish in the refrigerator while you complete the next few steps.
  19. Clean and sanitize your work surface and add all of the kitchen tools that touched raw fish to the sink. Wash your hands.
  20. Get a clean cutting board, knife, large bowl, and smaller bowl (like a soup bowl) half filled with water.
  21. Finely dice the red onion. 
  22. Add the red onion to the small bowl with water. Set off to the side.
  23. In the large bowl, zest and juice two lemons. 
  24. Begin whisking your lemon juice.
  25. Continue to whisk and with your other hand, add the olive oil. This will emulsify the oil and lemon juice together. 
  26. Add salt and pepper.
  27. Cut the stems off the bunch of parsley. 
  28. Roughly chop and mine the bunch of parsley leaves. It should be about 3/4 cup once all done but there is no right answer here – a little more or less is TOTALLY fine.
  29. Add the parsley to the bowl.
  30. Finely dice the celery stalks. 
  31. Add the celery to the bowl.
  32. Get your fish from the refrigerator. 
  33. Chop your fish for the salad. I cut the shrimp in thirds, scallops in fourths. Calamari rings can be left whole or cut in half. Tentacles can be left whole or cut into half or quarters, depending on the size.
  34. Add your fish to the bowl. 
  35. Add any mix-ins if you are using them.  
  36. Gently toss the salad together with a spatula, coating the fish with the dressing. 
  37. Eat immediately or allow it to sit over night to marinate. 
  38. Enjoy! 
  39. I want to see your dish! Post a picture at tag me on all the platforms – @TheWellnessKitchenista!3

Bon Appetit!

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